१५१

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सायण-भाष्यम्

‘ मित्रं न यम्’ इति नवर्चमेकादशं सूक्तं दैर्घतमसं जागतं मैत्रावरुणम् । आद्या मैत्र्येव । अत्रानुक्रमणिका – मित्रं नव मैत्रावरुणं हि जागतं मैत्र्याद्या ’ इति । विनियोगो लैङ्गिकः ॥

Jamison Brereton

151
Mitra and Varuṇa
Dīrghatamas Aucathya
9 verses: jagatī
The second part of this hymn (vss. 6cd through 9) is fairly straightforward, depict ing Mitra and Varuṇa as the focus of the sacrifice and the patrons of the sacrificer. The first part is a different story—enigmatic in reference and convoluted in expres sion. However, it appears to concern the same topic: Mitra and Varuṇa’s presence at and participation in the sacrifice. We can therefore think of the hymn as an example of large-scale “poetic repair,” with the second part rephrasing the first in less con torted expressions. (On poetic repair see Jamison 2006.)
The hymn begins with the birth of Agni, presented both as ritual fire and as formidable god. The first half of verse 1 places the birth at the sacrifice itself, “amid the cows and the waters,” in our opinion referring to the two auxiliary substances necessary for soma preparation, the milk for mixing and the water for rinsing and diluting. But in the second half of the verse the birth causes cosmic consternation, with the two worlds set atremble by his size and his “song,” presumably a reference to the crackling of a blazing fire.
Mitra and Varuṇa make their appearance in verse 2, as sacrificial partners of a named soma-offerer; they are brought to the ritual ground and urged to aid the ritual participants. But the theme of birth returns in verse 3. Contrary to most interpretations, we consider the birth in question to be Agni’s birth, treated already in verse 1, not the birth of Mitra and Varuṇa. (The dual pronoun vām in 3a is in Wackernagel’s Position, and we construe it later in the verse, as often.) As in verse 1, humans assist at the birth of the ritual fire, a birth that has cosmic resonances. Mitra and Varuṇa also assist, bringing their skill to bear for the sacrifice (here referred to as “truth” [r̥tá]) and the fire. Their contributions to the sacrifice are also treated in verse 4; the skill mentioned in verse 3 they bring from heaven (4c), while they also make ready the soma-preparing waters mentioned in verse 1 (4d). Soma preparation is also the subject of the next verse (5). The cows (that is, their milk) are depicted turbulently milling around the ritual ground, bellowing at the three times of day associated with soma-pressing—dawn, midday, and sunset. (It should be noted that vs. 5 is the most puzzling verse in the hymn, and our interpretation does not entirely match those of others scholars.) In the first half of verse 6 we return to the ritual fire, kindled in verse 1—or rather to its flames, conceived of as “long-haired females.” (The poet, Dīrghatamas, uses the same image and the same word in I.140.8, where the reference to flames is clearer.)

As mentioned above, the highly wrought and cryptic treatment of the sacrifice and Mitra and Varuṇa’s place in it is succeeded, starting with the second half of verse 6, by a fairly uncomplex restatement of the major themes.

Jamison Brereton Notes

Mitra and Varuṇa The published introduction. gives a conspectus of the hymn, esp. the difficult first 5 vss.

01 मित्रं न - जगती

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मि॒त्रं न यं शिम्या॒ गोषु॑ ग॒व्यवः॑ स्वा॒ध्यो॑ वि॒दथे॑ अ॒प्सु जीज॑नन् ।
अरे॑जेतां॒ रोद॑सी॒ पाज॑सा गि॒रा प्रति॑ प्रि॒यं य॑ज॒तं ज॒नुषा॒मवः॑ ॥

02 यद्ध त्यद्वाम् - जगती

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यद्ध॒ त्यद्वां॑ पुरुमी॒ळ्हस्य॑ सो॒मिनः॒ प्र मि॒त्रासो॒ न द॑धि॒रे स्वा॒भुवः॑ ।
अध॒ क्रतुं॑ विदतं गा॒तुमर्च॑त उ॒त श्रु॑तं वृषणा प॒स्त्या॑वतः ॥

03 आ वाम् - जगती

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आ वां॑ भूषन्क्षि॒तयो॒ जन्म॒ रोद॑स्योः प्र॒वाच्यं॑ वृषणा॒ दक्ष॑से म॒हे ।
यदी॑मृ॒ताय॒ भर॑थो॒ यदर्व॑ते॒ प्र होत्र॑या॒ शिम्या॑ वीथो अध्व॒रम् ॥

04 प्र सा - जगती

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प्र सा क्षि॒तिर॑सुर॒ या महि॑ प्रि॒य ऋता॑वानावृ॒तमा घो॑षथो बृ॒हत् ।
यु॒वं दि॒वो बृ॑ह॒तो दक्ष॑मा॒भुवं॒ गां न धु॒र्युप॑ युञ्जाथे अ॒पः ॥

05 मही अत्र - जगती

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म॒ही अत्र॑ महि॒ना वार॑मृण्वथोऽरे॒णव॒स्तुज॒ आ सद्म॑न्धे॒नवः॑ ।
स्वर॑न्ति॒ ता उ॑प॒रता॑ति॒ सूर्य॒मा नि॒म्रुच॑ उ॒षस॑स्तक्व॒वीरि॑व ॥

06 आ वामृताय - जगती

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आ वा॑मृ॒ताय॑ के॒शिनी॑रनूषत॒ मित्र॒ यत्र॒ वरु॑ण गा॒तुमर्च॑थः ।
अव॒ त्मना॑ सृ॒जतं॒ पिन्व॑तं॒ धियो॑ यु॒वं विप्र॑स्य॒ मन्म॑नामिरज्यथः ॥

07 यो वाम् - जगती

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यो वां॑ य॒ज्ञैः श॑शमा॒नो ह॒ दाश॑ति क॒विर्होता॒ यज॑ति मन्म॒साध॑नः ।
उपाह॒ तं गच्छ॑थो वी॒थो अ॑ध्व॒रमच्छा॒ गिरः॑ सुम॒तिं ग॑न्तमस्म॒यू ॥

08 युवां यज्ञैः - जगती

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यु॒वां य॒ज्ञैः प्र॑थ॒मा गोभि॑रञ्जत॒ ऋता॑वाना॒ मन॑सो॒ न प्रयु॑क्तिषु ।
भर॑न्ति वां॒ मन्म॑ना सं॒यता॒ गिरोऽदृ॑प्यता॒ मन॑सा रे॒वदा॑शाथे ॥

09 रेवद्वयो दधाथे - जगती

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रे॒वद्वयो॑ दधाथे रे॒वदा॑शाथे॒ नरा॑ मा॒याभि॑रि॒तऊ॑ति॒ माहि॑नम् ।
न वां॒ द्यावोऽह॑भि॒र्नोत सिन्ध॑वो॒ न दे॑व॒त्वं प॒णयो॒ नान॑शुर्म॒घम् ॥